The two were accompanied by a girl
by Applesith
Summary: Not long after joining the First Order, a young and naive Kylo Ren is tasked by Hux and Snoke to recover on Jakku a mysterious relic named "Glory hole". (Or why Kylo hates Hux and why he was so interested in "a girl" from Jakku.)
**Disclaimer:** It's probably different from what you expect ;)

* * *

"Are you sure it is a wise decision General? The consequences could be dire if Supreme Leader Snoke learns that you are messing with his protégé."

"Do not worry yourself Captain, I have personally spoken with Leader Snoke. He too believes Master Ren needs to be taught a lesson.

* * *

Rey is waiting in line, her makeshift backpack ready to burst under the weight of the parts she salvaged today, when she notices a figure clad in black emerging from a shuttle parked in the dusty shuttlecraft bay of Niima Outpost. She's always drawn to newcomers, always on the lookout for her family so it's no surprise when she starts following the stranger's every move. He's very tall, taller than Unkar Plutt for sure and she wonders how he's going to survive on Jakku with so many layers of black clothes on his back. Not that it really matters she reckons, he probably won't stay on this planet very long. No one ever does.

She's craning her neck to get a glimpse of him as he's about to disappear in the crowd, when a familiar yet despicable voice calls her name.

"Rey! My favourite little scavenger. What do you have for me today, girl?"

Rey retches when she gets closer to the counter and the man in black is already forgotten as she places the parts she's about to barter for some meager portions.

* * *

This planet is one of the most wretched, forlorn places Ben has ever visited. No, not Ben, it is Kylo Ren now. What a strange feeling to have to learn your own name once again, even if you never really liked the one your parents gave you in the first place.

"You!" he calls to a merchant behind his stall. He's human but his appearance and his smell could fool anybody into thinking he's the representative of some kind of unknown alien species, with his ragged clothes, his dirty and unusually long blond hair braided around his head like a turban and his broken smile. The man certainly doesn't inspire trust but he turns his head and seems ready to listen to him.

"I'm looking for a Glory Hole" Kylo Ren declares imperiously "Do you know where I can find one?"

The man stares at him for a moment before exploding into a laugh that sounds both cruel and wicked. Kylo's clothes suddenly feel tight around his shoulders and his gloved hands ball into fists. How dare the merchant mocks him for asking a simple question?

If Kylo wishes it, the man would drop dead this very instant among his pitiful wares and no one would suspect that his heart was crushed from inside his ribcage. It's too bad he's on a mission that ought to be discreet, else he would teach him a lesson.

"Is that what you're looking for, heh? You won't find any here lad. Try Ergel's bar. No doubt someone will be more than willing to give you a hand ."

Kylo is not quite sure why the man takes the time to enunciate so clearly the last part of that sentence, but he has his answer and he's more than eager to take his leave. He'll find the bar on his own, it can't be that far away.

* * *

He's been running around Niima Outpost for an hour, looking for signs of a cantina, when something occurs to him. Ergel's bar might not be here at all. If he was alone, in the comfort of his own quarters he would punch himself on the head with his bare knuckles for being so daft, but here, in plain daylight, there are too many people around him.

"What are you looking for?" a small voice suddenly asks behind him. He turns with a dramatic swoosh and tilt his head. It's a scrawny little girl. She can't be older than ten but there's something in her eyes that gives away a maturity that reaches beyond her years. She's holding a staff taller than her and wears a backpack that could fit her entire body comfortably.

"Hi" she says to try to muster more confidence. Kylo can sense that she's getting a little bit uncomfortable. She's not used to being observed, noticed.

"What do you want" he says abruptly. It's one thing being mocked by a grown-up man, but it's something else to be sassed by a little girl. He prefers not to look approachable from the start.

"You look lost. Can I help?"

The remark is unexpected and Kylo doesn't know how to respond. He hasn't turned to the dark side for long enough to know how to deal with a kid with a golden heart.

"I'm looking for a place called Ergel's bar. Do you know where it is?"

"Oh, yes I know where it is. It's not here, it's in Cratertown."

"Cratertown?" he repeats. "Where is that?"

The little girl points vaguely to the east. "It's over here. I could guide you if you want." she adds with a smile that shouldn't be allowed on a backwater world like this one.

"What do you want in exchange?" he asks, suddenly worrying it's a trick or a trap.

The little girl looks back at him more seriously now, maybe even with a hint of sadness.

"Nothing. I just want you to tell me stories from where you come from. Deal?"

There are many things in this galaxy that are broken and need fixing but in this instant Kylo discovers that even in the most barren places some flowers manage to thrive in spite of the harsh elements.

"Deal" he hears himself respond in a mechanical, inhuman voice.

* * *

The little girl scampers around him like any ten year old who hasn't been sent away to train with an old man who never dealt with children before.

"Why do you wear a mask?" she asks genuinely curious. "Were you in an accident like Teemy? He's got his face badly burnt when a tank exploded. He wasn't very cautious that day."

"None of your business." Kylo responds with indignation at the implication the only reason why an individual would willingly wear a mask is because they're disfigured.

There are some things he's not ready or willing to talk about.

"You're not a very nice man, are you?" the girl responds facetiously. She doesn't seem to believe what she just said, but she's also not ready to lose face in front of him, despite the fact she's just a tiny little thing in comparison to him.

"No, I guess I'm not" he responds more calmly, remembering the cries and screams of his Jedi companions as he passed his blade through their chests.

"That's my speeder" she announces with a cry of joy. "I made it myself!" she adds, waiting for a compliment, but when Kylo doesn't respond her smile transforms into a frown.

"It's impressive" he says after a long pause. "For a ten year old" he adds. He's not here to boost the girl's ego after all, he's on Jakku to find a stupid relic he's never heard of before.

He's less than happy to be sent on some inane errands for Hux but Leader Snoke says it will be a life changing experience for him.

She cocks an eyebrow at him. "I'm not ten! I'm thirteen" she says indignantly while getting on the machine. It's an ugly looking thing with barely enough space for her to sit on.

"What?" he exclaimed genuinely shocked by the revelation.

He looks again at the speeder.

"Get off" he orders her. Kylo is a lot of things, but he's spent enough time around two teenage girls to know a thirteen year old girl should never let an adult sit behind her.

"What? Why?"

"I'll pilot."

"But it's my speeder!" she replies, not impressed by the tone he's using to speak to her.

Kylo has no patience and isn't willing to argue further. He grabs the girl by the shoulders and removes her from the speeder before sitting in her stead. She really wants to scream at him, but she's too dumbfounded to say anything other than "It's so unfair!"

"Life is unfair young padawan, you better learn that early!" he retorts before recoiling on the seat. No way he can take away what he just said.

It's a relief when the girl doesn't ask further questions and she sits behind him and grab at his black robes.

"Cratertown is this way" she points out with a dirty finger. Kylo kick starts the engine and off they shoot into the desert.

* * *

The mining town is everything you expect from a world abandoned by the New Republic. It's dirty, dusty and lacks of any form of comfort inhabitants of the core worlds take for granted. Kylo parks the speeder next to the bar after the girl taps on his shoulder.

"Here it is" she says.

It doesn't take more than a glance to see that Ergel's bar is not a suitable environment for a thirteen year old. "Stay there" he orders.

She wants to protest, but there's something in his filtered voice that makes her want to obey. She doesn't know what it is so she just nods and stays outside, in the street, playing with her staff. It's both a way to train, to pass the time and to signal to drunks and creeps she might be little but she's no prey. Today she's a smuggler defending herself against the entire Imperial armada.

She's about to take down a destroyer when she hears shouting and screaming coming from the bar. She turns around in direction of the commotion and see patrons fleeing, running for their life. There are men and women, some wearing no pants or no shirts and she's not sure what's going on. They all look utterly terrified. She's about to dash to the entrance door when her new acquaintance gets out too.

She should be relieved to see him still fully dressed and unharmed, except that he's now extending a hand toward one of the patron who's running away and literally locks him into place. She places her hand over her mouth. The man is dragged back to where her "friend" is standing, his feet a good few centimeters above the ground, holding at his neck.

"What kind of sick, twisted joke was that?" a mechanical voice roars. "Explain yourself!"

Kylo releases the pressure just enough to allow the man who lead him to the most sordid place he ever laid eyes on to speak.

"You...you ask. I just showed you."

"I don't understand!" Kylo screams now. He's totally losing control over his emotions, maybe because deep down he knows, he understands. Both Hux and Snoke are laughing at him right now, at his naivety, at the light that is still inside him. He's not a darksider yet, he's just a pathetic, snivelling Jedi who's been sheltered all his life and knows nothing. Killing your friends, betraying your family is not enough. He needs to witness the depravity, the wickedness of a world without order.

His head is spinning now. He releases the man and doesn't even realised he's dead when the body touches the ground like a sack of broken bones.

It's a good thing the mask is hiding him because he's on the verge of bursting into tears. He's too weak. Suddenly he thinks of the girl. Where is she? Did she see him? He turns around and here she is, paralysed with fear and disgust. He strides towards her and he can tell that she wants to run away, to get as far away as she can from him. He's a monster.

"Sshhhh" he tries to say as calmly as possible. He's using the dirty mind tricks. He hates himself when he does that, he hates the hypocrisy of it. "It's a way to resolve conflicts before they happen" Luke told him once. Bantha fodder! It's a way to break people into obedience.

"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you." he reassures her, though she's resisting. Of course she's scared of him, of his powers, who wouldn't be? All of them, they should all be scared.

He knocks her unconscious and carries her back to the speeder.

* * *

Rey wakes up the next day, hidden behind crates, her speeder close by. She checks her backpack. Her rations are still there, that's a relief. It means she hasn't been attacked. She touches her head looking for a bump or blood or any clue of what happened to her. She doesn't seem to have received any kind of blow so she can't really explain why she's been spending the night here and not in the comfort of her own home. When thinking about it, she can't remember anything after talking with Unkar Plutt. She shrugs, maybe she finally passed out because of this foul smell of his.

Her speeder leaves a trail of dust in the desert of Jakku. It's time to go to work if she wants to earn more portions today.


End file.
